You’ll See More of Black Lightning’s Powers in Episode 3, Says Star

In the first two episodes of Black Lightning, we’ve seen the eponymous superhero create electricity. We’ve also seen the emergence of his daughter Anissa’s powers. Anissa is Thunder, a metahuman who, in the comics, is able to increase her physical density to make herself bulletproof and also create huge shockwaves by stomping on the ground. But what many of us are asking is when we’ll see the full extent of the superhero powers on display in the show.

FANDOM spoke with Black Lightning himself, actor Cress Williams, who told us we won’t have to wait long to see more of his character’s powers.

“As the series progresses –right around episode three — you start to see new aspects of his powers,” he reveals. “..The flight, or levitation, doesn’t happen around that time, but some of the powers that people are used to seeing in the comic books start to be unveiled, and we progressively unveil more and more. There are some wonderful things ahead.”

In the comics, Black Lightning is able to both manipulate and generate electricity, and also create a force field for protection. He also has telekinetic abilities and the power to levitate using electricity.

Lightning… and Thunder

Nafessa Williams as Anissa Pierce, also known as Thunder.

But he’s not the only character who we’ll see gradually develop throughout Season 1. Thunder will also come to the fore.

Williams had this to say about this groundbreaking character: “Anyone who’s a fan of the comic books will know that Thunder is Anissa and she’s my eldest daughter. Even in the comic books, you learn that she has the ability to change her density, so through the course of the first season that’s going to more and more come to light. I think she will definitely be a fan favourite just because it’s going to be breaking new ground. I don’t think there’s ever been a woman of colour, as far as an African-American female superhero [goes], that’s really at the forefront.”

The show takes more from the comics than just powers, and Williams hints at a proliferation of Easter eggs scattered throughout the series.

“Anybody who’s a fan of the comic book, there’s the ‘70s the original version, there was also a series in the ‘90s and there was a series in the 2000s. We’re kind of an amalgamation of all of them, and in some ways we pay homage to all of them. So there will be enough [Easter eggs] to go around for sure.”

He also teased that death may not be the end: “If somebody dies on our show, they may not necessarily be dead. I’ll give you that.”

Catch Black Lightning every Tuesday in both the US, on the CW, and UK, on Netflix.